Potential release of Shreyas Iyer by Kolkata Knight Riders before IPL 2025? Former India batsman reveals bold stance…

New Delhi: Renowned cricket commentator and former Indian player Aakash Chopra has predicted that Shah Rukh Khan, the celebrated Bollywood actor and co-owner of Kolkata Knight Riders, will not allow Shreyas Iyer to leave the team before the IPL 2025 mega auction. Aakash Chopra emphasized that Shah Rukh Khan, known for his deep emotional connections, will retain Iyer as the captain of KKR for purely sentimental reasons.

Iyer captained Kolkata to victory in the IPL 2024 title in May, defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad by eight wickets in the final held in Chennai, securing their third IPL championship.

Chopra mentioned that Iyer will be the first player retained by Kolkata. Under the new retention rules, franchises are allowed to retain a maximum of six players, subject to certain terms and conditions.

“You want to first retain the captain, who is Shreyas Iyer. If 18 crores go, let them go because you won’t get a captain. He is your winning captain. If Gautam (Gambhir) isn’t there, retain your captain to maintain some continuity,” Chopra said while speaking on his YouTube channel.

“You might get Shreyas Iyer for 18 crores using the RTM but never do that with the captain because eventually this game is played by humans, and humans have hearts, and thereby emotions. Who will understand emotions better than Khan Sahab (Shahrukh Khan),” Chopra said.

In IPL 2024, Iyer amassed 351 runs in 14 matches, boasting a strike rate of 146.86, including two half-centuries.

Chopra stated that in addition to Iyer, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, and Andre Russell should also be among the key retentions for the Kolkata-based franchise.

“Second, since I am looking from the Indian perspective, if Rinku Singh comes to the market, he will be sold for 14 crores. So retain Rinku Singh for sure. Retain both Andre Russell and Sunil Narine. The problem is that if you retain both, one will be for 11 crores but the fourth retention will be for 18 crores,” Chopra said.